Probably because old calendars (such as the Persian Calendar) used 360 days for a year-when they watched the stars they saw them revolve around the North Star one degree per day.
September 27, 2015 will bring a supermoon lunar eclipse at nightfall. The last lunar eclipse of this magnitude occurred in 1982, and the next one of a similar magnitude will be in 2033. A lesser lunar eclipse will come in 2018. The lunar eclipse part of this phenomenon, according CTV, is caused by the Earth inserting itself between the sun and the moon. As this happens, the Earth casts its shadow on the face of the moon.
The next TOTAL solar eclipse in North America occurs on August 1, 2008 but it will only be visible from northern Canada (Nunavut). The next TOTAL solar eclipse visible from the United States occurs on August 21, 2017. The track goes from Washington State, and exits on the east coast near the Carolinas. In the mean time there will be lots of LUNAR eclipses to entertain us!